


It Can Never Be This Easy

by ChaiCello



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Good Parent Din Djarin, M/M, Meet-Cute, Misunderstandings, Rating for Language, Strangers to Lovers, The Will of the Force (Star Wars), star wars canon and i have never met, still alien planet tho, the Dark Side is late stage capitalism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:49:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29253234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaiCello/pseuds/ChaiCello
Summary: Din is a struggling father who takes Temp work to make ends meet for his son's expensive schooling.Luke Skywalker is first in line to inherit Curoscant Incorporated, but his father won't listen to him.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda & Luke Skywalker, Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Comments: 17
Kudos: 76





	1. Orientation/But I was going to go to tosche station to pick up A Man!

“Welcome to Coruscant Incorporated

We trust you had a safe and wonderful journey from your previous life choices to our inviting office spaces.  
We hope your journey here will be a life-changing experience that will benefit you and not just our company.

I’m sorry, I meant, OUR company!

During this short orientation, you will be provided with a complimentary lunch; to celebrate your first day with us. Just to show you how much we care!

  
Let’s go over the main points of our orientation.

Coruscant Incorporated prides itself on community and team leadership…”

Din stuffed half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in his mouth as he thought about how similar this video orientation was to half his previous jobs.  
He’d no doubt have to sit through half and hour of company bragging before getting to the company policies, where he’d have to zone back in for just long enough to figure out who not to piss off for the two weeks he’d be here.

This job would be the same as his last. Pushing pencils and fixing printers for a bunch of career bastards who made their living screwing people out of money.  
As long as he could get off in time to pick up Grogu from school, he didn’t really care.  
  
The video lady’s voice changed pitch into something of a warning, bringing Din back to the present. He listened to some, ‘Do’s and Don’t’s’ of this specific building and then opened his complimentary bag of chips.

The crinkling was a bit too loud though, and a couple other Temps glands back at him. He smiled sheepishly at them.

Once again grateful for his forgivable face, Din decidedly pays a little more attention to the poorly edited video.

You’d think a Fortune 500 company would be able to afford a better production. But then again, this was specific to the temporary workers, and as often as they bragged about their ‘welcoming atmosphere’ Din knew he would never matter here.

That’s the way it was. Temp work was just temporary work. Something to scrape together to make ends meet. He wasn’t trying to make a career with the Corporation.

***

  
  
“But Dad! I told you I was going to take the certification test today!” Luke whines as he follows his father down the hall towards the meeting rooms.  
  
Anakin suppresses a sigh, “…yes, and _I_ told _you_ that we were having a board meeting today.”

Luke straightens his suit coat and quickens his pace to keep up. He once again cursed his genes for giving him his mother’s height, instead of his father’s long legs.  
  
“This is an important meeting, Luke.” Anakin says softer.

“The board is deciding on when to integrate you into management. And the quicker you can prove yourself to them, the quicker you can start really taking part in this company.”

Luke scowled. “But what if I don’t _want_ to take part?”

Anakin stops in his tracks and turns on his son. He sets a hand firmly on Luke’s shoulder and levels his eyes with him.

“You **will**.” He drops his hand and starts to turn away, “End of discussion.”

They enter the board room and Luke watches all the oldest people in the world stand to greet his father.  
They shake hands with a few of the people closest to the end of the table where Luke plops down across from his father.He looks cautiously down the long table to the person seated at the head, the President of the Board: President Palpatine.

The man catches his gaze and Luke sits back quickly, and watches his father clear his throat before standing to start whatever presentation he had.  
Luke tries to pay attention as his father elaborates on all the greatest things the company has done the past year. Or.. business year. As it was the middle of the year at this point.  
  
“Luke?”

Anakin’s voice cuts into Luke’s thoughts. His head whips up to look at his father’s expression beginning to fall towards impatience.

“Huh? Sorry! What did you say?” Luke squeaks out.

“I asked if you’d like to add anything about the benefits our Company has provided for the city?” Anakin says

“Oh, um. I don’t really have anything-… prepared.” Luke suddenly recalls as he speaks that his father asked him to prepare a speech for the board a week ago.  
  
A fact that did not at all elude Anakin. “Luke, I asked you to make a powerpoint last week. What have you been doing?”

Anakin whispers harshly as he leans into his son.

“Is there a problem Mr. Skywalker?” A scratchy voice asks from the end of the table.

Both Luke and Anakin straighten up. “Nothing significant, Sir. I’m afraid my son is just a little nervous. He will have to give his portion of the presentation later, if the Board will be so patient.”

Luke’s face heats up. He hated the idea that he would always be offered a second chance, when his actions would have caused ANYONE else to be fired immediately. Just because he was the CEO’s heir.

“That will not be a problem at all Mr. Skywalker. Luke can give his presentation at next month’s meeting.”

President Palpatine offered in that sickly sweet voice of his.  
  
Luke knew enough at this point to stand and bow politely to the president and the board.

“Thank you very much for your patience.” He says clearly. He can still feel the red embarrassment across his face when he sits back down and catches his father staring at him with nothing but disapproval.

“Yes, thank you, Sir.” Anakin says, not ready to drop the topic yet.

Luke’s fingernails dug into the ends of his armrests.  
  
“I’m sure my son will not disappoint you _next time_.”

He bite into the inside of his lip, tasting blood.

“I’ll just cover the points he would have made now.” Anakin says before turning back to the screen at the front of the room.

“So there’s no point in _next time_ …” Luke muttered.

Anakin pauses, bristling, “Did you have something to add, after all, Luke?”

Luke glares at him, “No, you seem to have it all covered.”

Anyone how didn’t know the CEO very well, or didn’t grow up having to watch for his anger, wouldn’t have noticed how his nostrils flared and his brow furrowed. They wouldn’t have given any thought to the way he brushed his hair back out of his face.

“Hm. Because it really seems like you want to add something.” Anakin said with a perfectly normal looking smile.

Luke’s eye twitches. He told his Father over and over about how important today was for him. And yet…

“Actually yes, I DO have something to add, _Father_.” Luke states as he stands, pushing his chair back quickly.

“I’d like to tell the Board that I was SUPPOSED to be taking advantage of our fair City’s free certification program to finish my degree today. Right about thirty minutes ago, actually!”

“Luke-!”

“And what a wonderful program it is!

I wanted to add that this company funds that very program by donating to the school thereby allowing the Company to mark itself as a charity and get TAX EXEMPTIONS on all its profits!

Amazing!WOW!”

“LUKE!!”

“What a FINE Company we are! Let’s all pat our own backs and kiss our own asses!”

“Luke.” Anakin speaks very softly.

At that point, Luke knew he’d gone too far.

***

Din tossed his empty chip bag into a trash receptacle as he passed the iron gate into the park.

The first day was usually the worst at most of his temp jobs. Today, his manager had told them all they’d be scheduled to start working, but had let them all go after the orientation.

Now he was out five hours worth of pay. And he still has to hang around town to pick up Grogu later.  
Going all the way home would just be a waste of fuel.

So he resigned himself to wander the massive park across the street from the line of corporate buildings he’d come from.

He leaned back on a bench and looked up into the sky. He could see the vague shape of one of the moons through the rich green leaves of a nearby tree. Birds chirped happily.

Din closed his eyes and breathed in the smells of fresh cut grass, food vendors… not-so-clean air… maybe a hint of dirt and dead leaf… water. Chemically treated water? A fountain.

Din listens carefully as he opens his eyes to look around. He faintly hears the sound of splashing water and children laughing.

He gets up and decides that watching kids play would be better than watching the occasional cyclist or jogger pass by.

He finds a large, white, monument of a fountain spilling water into a large pool of other figures.

Surrounding it is a short iron fence of elaborate design, and a flat area of sprinkler fountains that go off at alternate times. A ground of children only a little bit older than Grogu play in the water as their parents watch nearby.

Din carefully elects where to sit so as not to disturb anyone, but also not appear suspicious in any way. He ends up at a bench opposite the play area and pulls a small paperback book from his bag. He’d actually finished the book already, but he had nothing better to do.

Time passed as well as a warm summer day could, but soon Din was bored of his book. He watched the kids splash each other on the edge of the play area before they all moved behind the fountain.

He heard some louder yelling, but nothing unusual for kids.

He closed his eyes to listen.

Laughing… bike bells… water…

yelling… screeching tires.

Din was up in an instant. He watched the bike crash into someone and knock them into the play area. The cyclist fell while the other person kept moving, slipping on the wet cement and falling over the low fence straight into the fountain.

Din darted forward and hopped the fence.

The person screeched and splashed a bit before coming to their senses and pushing themself out of the water.

Din kicked off his shoes and stepped into the water. It was a bit deeper than he expected, but still only came up to his hips.

He scooped the other person up under their arms. “I gotcha, you’re alright.” He says.

He glances over to see some of the mothers springing into action. A few check the kids and another checks the cyclist. Everyone seems to be fine and the biggest tragedy is only this person’s very fine suit.

Din pulls the person up against his chest. Their blonde hair is plastered over their face as they cough up water.

Din realizes that they’ve gone almost completely limp in his arms, but they’re breathing. “You’re alright… I’ll get you out..” Din hears himself say as he pulls this person up enough to sweep their legs up. He carries them to the lip of the fountain where a young woman helps him get out.

“Thank you… Today is just not my day…” Din hears them mutter.

Din carries the person over to an empty bench and sets them down.

They seem to come back to their senses as Din helps them brush the wet hair out of their face.

As he passes his hand through their bangs to brush them out of the way, Din is captured by vast, bright blue eyes.

“Thank you.” They say. “…again.”

Din blinks rapidly for a moment, reeling from shine in the person’s eyes. 

“Yeah. No problem… uh…”

They slick their hair back and start to attempt to wring out their soaked suit. “My name’s Luke.”

Din frowns at the state of Luke. Soaked from head to toe, in what looked like a very expensive suit.  
  
“Din.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Din.” Luke says with a smile.

Din has been around a while. He’s met more people than he could say. Especially with his job being what it was, taking everything available. But he thinks back and he is very sure he’s never seen anyone with a smile quite like Luke’s.

“Yeah. Nice to meet you too.” Din says, but then his practical side finally catches up, “What happened back there?”

Luke took his coat and tie off and laid them out on the edge of the bench which happened to have a patch of sun hitting it. He worked on his shoes as he answered,

“I wasn’t paying attention and I accidentally stepped in front of that guy’s bike. We both tried to avoid the kiddos and next thing I knew, Sploosh!… I was underwater.”

He managed to pull of his first shoe and dumped water out of it. His socks even matched his suit. Din looked down at his patterned purple and green socks that were just as soaked. He hadn’t even remembered he was just as wet as Luke, at least from the waist down.

“Wait here.” Din said in his Dad-voice without thinking. He went and picked up his shoes from the edge of the fountain and then retrieved his bag from the other bench. He made sure nothing was missing as he walked back to Luke.

Luke had not only waited where he was told, be he’d -for some reason- even paused in his effort to take his socks off. He watched Din curiously as he came back.  
  
“If your phone got wet I can call you a cab or something.” Din offered. He noticed Luke didn’t have a bag and wasn’t carrying anything, so his phone must have been in his pocket.  
  
Luke smiled but then looked down, “thank you… I actually left my phone at home, so I was already pretty screwed! You’re a life-saver.”

“Oh.” Din replied. He took a moment to consider the man. Fancy suit, no phone. Clumsy as fuck and clearly nowhere to be based on how casually he was taking all this.

“You think I’m irresponsible.” Luke says suddenly.

Din, who was thinking just that, snaps out of his head and steps back, feeling his face warm up.

“No! I mean- m-maybe a little strange, but…” Din stammers out

Luke grins a bit and resumes taking his shoes off. “It’s ok. I get that a lot.”

Din stands nearby, a bit awkwardly, before he realizes he should probably take the loss and head home to get dried off. His attention is brought back to Luke, when the young man stands and gathers his pile of sopping clothes.

“Hey, are you in a hurry?”

Din shakes his head. “Not really. I have to wait around town for my kid to get out of school.”

“Cool, come with me!” Luke says quickly before grabbing Din’s hand and pulling him away from the fountain.

***

Din and Luke lay on the side of a small hill further in the park. Their suit coats and shoes spread out in the sun.  
“So your son goes to school here, but you live all the way outside of the city?” Luke asks around his ice cream cone.

Din nods, having just finished his cone. “Better schools means he’s safer. And living outside means lower crime rate, so… he’s safer.”

“Must be _some_ commute…” Luke ponders

Din laughs a bit and lays flat on the grass. “We get up pretty early, take the train as far as we can so I don’t have to say for parking. But its still about an hour and a half every day.”

Luke watches the man close his eyes and take a deep breath. Probably smelling the grass. Luke imagines a long car ride and then a long train ride on top of it.

“How does your kid like it here?”

Din’s eyes open and his content smile vanishes in thought.

“He’s too young to really know anything different. He accepts things pretty easily. But we’ll probably have to change schools soon since Grogu will need more sleep as he grows up.”

“You’re going to change schools for his sleep schedule?” Luke prompts again, leaning slightly towards Din.

Din nods and gives Luke an odd look.

“Kids need more rest when they get into middle and even High school. Around 10 hours. And depending on homework and available extra circulars… Just, not a lot of teachers are understanding…”

“I know what you mean!”

Din pauses and turns a little towards him. Luke feels a bit embarrassed at the sudden interest and he panics.  
  
“I’m just excited…” Luke dismisses himself, but he can’t help but talk more on the subject.“Not many people know enough about child psychology to understand the damages of the modern schooling system. I’m trying to become a teacher myself, so I can start my own school that will run at an optimal schedule for children as they develop.”

Luke risks a glance to see the look of inevitable boredom or disinterest in his topic, but instead finds Din’s eyes shinning and clearly waiting to hear more. His eyes are brown, and deep with color. Luke feels a pull to dive into them, but Din is waiting.  
“You see, I came up with this idea for a flexible system that, again depending on age, a student will be able to manage…”

They talked long after their ice cream was gone, and the vender had moved on. They discussed Luke’s idea for a progressive schooling system, and Din relayed tales about his mechanics shop that he runs with some friends.

They chatted about Grogu, Din’s five year old son. They shared stories of school and city living. And of interesting happens on public transportation.

Once their clothes and shoes were sufficiently dry, they walked together and followed their feet to the edge of a gentle river. They sat on a stone bench under a large oak tree and watched people feed the ducks.  
Something about each others company kept them there, long into the afternoon, chatting and laughing and learning about the other.

Luke looks up into the branches of the massive oak. He stares past the moss growing on the upper boughs and into the sky. A tinge of orange hints at the coming of night a few hours out. Din is laughing at the end of his latest story when Luke remembers his watch. He glances at his wrist and is pleased to see it still ticking away, clearly unharmed by his dip in the fountain.  
He takes note of the time…

“Din?”

“Yes?” Luke can hear the smile in Din’s voice.

“What time did you have to pick up Grogu again?” Luke pushes past the fluttering feeling in his chest to worry over the future for a minute.

“Oh shit… please don’t tell me I’m late.” Din mutters and gets up. 

The place on the bench next to him suddenly feels horribly empty, and Luke stands as well.

“It’s 5:13…” Luke says.

“FUCK!” Din shouts and springs around Luke to get back up to the side walk. Luke follows, thought he isn’t quite sure why. He wasn’t invited. And he can’t help at all.

Din runs a few strides before seeming to remember Luke, who had fallen back and was standing at the big tree, watching him go.

He stops and turns to look back at Luke, then he looks down and seems to think something over. He returns with a short jog and grabs both of Luke’s hands.

Din doesn’t look at him, but stares at their hands. Luke’s breath stops and he desperately waits for Din to say something before he can.

Din speaks quietly, “I had a lot of fun with you today. I think I’d forgotten what a decent conversation felt like. If you have time tomorrow, and you want to, meet me here at four.”

Luke’s face goes hot before he can do anything about it. He’s grateful Din isn’t looking at him in that moment.  
He coughs a bit and replies stiffly, “Yeah I’m free.”

Din just nods and looks up quickly. Luke only has a second to notice that Din’s face looked a bit flushed too, before he whirls around on his heel and takes off for the gate.

Luke watches him go. His hands still tingling from the sensation of holding Din’s. “Oh stars… I’m done for.”

***

Grogu eyes him suspiciously on the train. He’d accepted the long string of apologies Din had offered, as well as a bribe of his favorite blue cookies. But somehow… Din was sure his son knew.  
  
Grogu had good senses. Sometimes Din thought his son could _read his mind_. He always seemed to know when his Dad was in trouble or under some kind of stress. Which, perhaps that’s why he was being stared at now.

Din supposed crushing down his new feelings for some random person he fished out of a fountain might cause some stress. What was he thinking after all? Some scrawny, irresponsible, wannabe drags him through the park all day and suddenly he’s forgetting to pick up his CHILD from school? That kind of behavior leads to abandonment issues, and Grogu’s been through enough. Can’t have his father dropping out on him like that ever again.

And what does Din do? Goes and makes another date with the guy! To distract himself _again_ from his kid!

Wait… was that a date?

no. that’s crazy. He doesn’t know anything about Luke. Just his name.

And his aspirations. His hopes and dreams. His favorite ice cream flavor… That he’s kinda scared of ducks and geese. His favorite flowers grow in the summer and there just-so-happens to be a huge patch of them in the park..  
And that while he was showing the azaleas to Din, he talked about his sister. And her hopes and dreams of politics and medicine.  
And how he listened to the long story of how Din adopted Grogu with amazement in his eyes…

His bright, blue eyes…

Din felt a tug on his sleeve and he jolted out of his thoughts to look at his child.

Grogu was pointing at the train doors and grumbling.

They were going to miss their stop!

Din snatched his child and their bags and made a mad dash for the automatic doors right as they started to close.

Out on the platform, the doors shut behind him, Din sighed in relief. Grogu pouted in his position under his father’s arm; held up like luggage.  
  
“Thank’s kid. Good job.”

Grogu seemed pleased with himself, enough to let this one go. Din got the idea that Grogu _knew_ how gracious he was being today and that he’d collect later.

Din set his son down on his feet and held out his hand. The boy took it and they walked to the car for the next leg of their journey.

***


	2. Burgers and Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Din and Luke get burgers. And some good advice.

The next day, Din is just as absorbed in his thoughts as they drive to the train station. Grogu pays little attention to the tv show on in the back seat. He stares at his father in the rearview until Din can’t take it anymore.

“What is it Grogu? Got a question?” Din sighs

Grogu shakes his head and turns to look out the window. Smirking.

Arrival at the school goes as normal. He hugs Grogu tightly in goodbye, and Grogu pats his face.

“You know, one of these days you can _say_ ‘good bye’.” Din hints with a fond smile.

Grogu shrugs as if to say, ‘this works fine’ and he runs into the building.

Din worries for a moment, as was his custom, before walking to work. He swipes a keycard to get in and nods cordially at the front desk staff. They don’t recognize him, but they don’t do anything to stop him from getting into the first floor offices. He runs into a couple other Temps and greets them a bit friendlier, as he’d probably be working with them again somewhere down the line.

He gets to his cubicle and gets to work inputing unless data and creating files for things he doesn’t see the need for a company this large to keep. But he does it without complaint. A job is a job, and money is a happy, healthy Grogu.

Din is glad the job is simple. It allows him to go on auto-pilot and think about four pm.

He emails his supervisor to ask about the early clock-out and gets an immediate, uncaring reply.   
  
Din smiles to himself as his reboots the printer again.   
  
“Whatchu thinking about there, Djarin? Lookin’ pretty pleased with yourself.” A fellow Temp asks him with a mug of stale coffee in her hand.

“Got a hot date.” Din says automatically.

  
His coworker laughs, but clearly doesn’t believe him. She slaps him on the back, causing him to hip-check the printer. Ironically, it starts working right away.   
“Well if you don’t like them, send ‘em my way!” She laughs and wanders off.

Din chuckles to himself, but pauses when he considers his choice of words. Why did he keep thinking this was a date? Sure, he held Luke’s hand… but only for a moment and not.. like that.   
  
Does he want it to be a date?

Sure. Luke seems nice, good-natured, probably really good with kids…

Wait, he’s got no frame of reference for that. But what good would Luke be as a teacher if he wasn’t good with kids? Maybe he should have him meet Grogu.

Din shakes his head minutely. It’s way too soon to consider introducing Luke to his family.

…But that doesn’t mean Din doesn’t think about it.

Three fifty two pm.

_STARS! Can time go any slower?_

Din slowly packs his things into his bag and straightens his suit jacket again. He logs out of his computer.

Three fifty three pm.

Din slouches in the office chair and stares out of his little grey box. He thinks about Luke. He hopes he isn’t waiting for Din already. It would probably take him at least ten minutes to get over to the park, even walking full stride.

Maybe he has time to stop and pick up coffee for them? What kind of coffee does Luke like? Or is he more into tea? Maybe kombucha?

“Djarin, I thought you were leaving at four?” His supervisor popped into the frame.

“OH! Right! Thank you again, sir!” Din jumped up and rushed by the older man. Din thought not for the first time that he looked as though a ham had been shoved into business casual and handed a cold cup of espresso.

  
But his tired out manager didn’t matter now. Din had a very important meeting to attend.

He crosses the busy street with minimal risk to his life or personhood, and practically speed-walks into the park.

He slows down as he gets within sight of the large oak tree. He forces himself to stop to catch his breath for a moment, then saunters around the last leg of sidewalk to see the little stone bench.

Luke is already there, watching the river and tapping his shoes together.

Din approached from behind him and quickly silenced his footsteps; just to see what would happen if Din spooked him.

But as got closer, Luke perked up and looked around, eventually looking over his shoulder to catch Din sneaking towards him.

“What are you doing?” Luke laughs

Din straightens up and sweeps his hair back, a little embarrassed, “Nothing! Nothing at all.”

“Yeah, that’s not suspicious _at all_.” Luke chuckles as he stands and holds something out to Din.

“I got these from the place on 57th street. I used to go there all the time with my sister. They’re the best burgers in town!” Luke explained as Din accepted the wrapped burger.

The sat on the bench and chatted a bit about the burger place while they ate. Din didn’t have the heart to tell him that the burgers were pretty plain. Not bad, but not the best.

They ended up walking together, following a random path deeper into the park.

Din tries not to notice the way Luke swings his hands freely as they walk. Din keeps his safely in his pockets.

They pass a massive grove of lilac trees and smell halts their conversation for a bit.

“They’re beautiful. I really need to bring Grogu here sometime.” Din says, mostly to himself. But Luke turns to him.

“Seems like you don’t have a whole lot of time to show him the city…”

Din rubs the back of his neck, “No. Usually by the time we’re both done with stuff, it’s already getting late. And he needs a steady routine, you know? I’d like to bring him here on the weekend sometime, but I usually work at the shop those days.”

Luke cocks his head as they start walking again, “The shop?”

“A mechanics shop my friends own. I help out on the weekends and they help out with Grogu.” Din clarifies.

“So you’re a mechanic? What do you work on? Do you have a specialty? Or a favorite?”

Din chuckles to himself, “I fix whatever Cara drags in. She has all these ‘side projects’ she wants to get up an’ running. Lately I’ve been stripping parts from random things she finds in scrap piles. We’re trying to build an automated car. Just to see if we can.”

Din hears a gasp and knows if he looks at Luke he’ll be blinded by shining eyes, but he looks anyway. Luke’s eyes sparkle with interest. “You’re building a ROBOT CAR?!”

“Self-driving-.. uh.. yeah, pretty much.” Din says with a grin before having to look away for the sake of his heart.

“Tell me more!!” Luke practically shouts. Din finds himself laughing for the hundredth time of their walk. What about this person makes him so happy? Is it the fact that his soul must be pure sunshine? OR just that no one has ever really invested much into Din?

He isn’t sure, but he knows he doesn’t want to disappoint Luke. So he regales him with a story of physics and Theory and a crack idea he isn’t sure will work. As well as a bit about Cara Dune and her side jobs.

“To be perfectly honest, I’ve got a lot riding on our bet that I can make it work, but I just don’t think the tech’s there yet. Might take us a lot longer than Cara thinks.” Din says.

“At least you are pursuing your ideas. You’ve got a real chance of inventing something amazing Din.” Luke says a bit wistfully as they happen onto a soccer field. They stand close to each other and watch the middle school team practice.

“Why do you sound so defeated?” Din asks after a moment.

Luke sighs and crossed his arms around his chest. He seems to think over his words carefully. Din watches his face stare at the grass before looking back out across the field.

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. You don’t have to answer that.” Din offers.

“Its my Dad.” Luke replies.

Din notices Luke’s arms hugging himself as he continues.

“My father doesn’t believe in me. He never has. He wants me to take over the family business, and he’s been grooming me for just that since I can remember. He doesn’t like my ideas about the school.

He doesn’t even listen to me anymore…”

Din thinks over the response for a moment. He looks at Luke, sunshine suddenly clouded over. He looks hurt, and somehow younger. Din entertains a brief second of worry over a possible age gap between them.

He takes a breath and puts a guiding hand on Luke’s elbow and pulls him away from the field to resume their walk.   
“Do you need advice? Or do you need me to just listen?” Din asks softly, dropping his hand and leading Luke along.

He feels a strong gaze on him, but he refused to take his eyes off the path ahead of them. He waits until he hears the decision.

“Advice.”

Din nods and thinks for a few steps.   
  
“Have you tried meeting your Dad halfway? Like going along with what he wants for a little while. Just long enough to show him that you’re willing to put in your work. Show him you are responsible for your own life and choices. It could help shed some new light on your relationship. Maybe he’d be more willing to hear you out at least.”

They were silent for a while. Long enough for Din to start doubting himself. How dare he make such assumptions? Honestly? Why would he be so bold as to assume Luke hadn’t tried that already?

“That’s… actually a really good idea.” Luke broke the silence. _Thank the stars._

“I’ve spent most of my time complaining and resisting. Maybe I should try meeting him halfway. At the very least, that way he can’t blame me for NOT trying.” Luke admitted. “Thank you, Din.”

Din felt his cheeks warm slightly, but he could probably blame it on the sun being out again.

“I’m glad I could help. Even a little bit.” Din replied.

“You’ve helped a lot, Din. More than you realize.” Luke says

They are relatively close to the gate and tall shade trees frame the entry path. 

Luke stops suddenly, and Din turns to see why. Luke looks around for a second before waving Din off the path.   
Din, curiously, follows Luke over to a large maple tree. They’d been keeping a better eye on time today, and Din figured he’d have to leave to pick up Grogu soon. He didn’t want to be late again.  
But the part of him that wanted more of Luke’s brightness, didn’t mind this tangent.

“Is something wrong, Luke-?” Din asks, but Luke interrupts him

“Can we meet again?”

Din’s eyebrows go up in surprise, but he nods, and nods again a little more enthusiastically.

“I’d like that.” He says, his smile widening.

Luke appears to shake in excitement before containing himself. He taps his fingers together in a counting motion as he gestures an imaginary calendar, “Okay! Tomorrow won’t work, and if you work at the shop Fridays then Thursday seems like the best bet.”

Din grins again, “Thursday sounds great.”

They stare at each other a moment, tension appearing and they both avert their gazes.

“So.. I guess I’ll see you Thursday?” Luke says clasping his hands together as if trying to keep himself still.

“Yeah..” Din replies, daring to look up at him again. To his detriment, Luke is staring at him. Din is once again trapped by blue. They look into each other’s eyes long enough for the tension to build and break again.

They both speak at once.

“Are you gay?”

”Can I kiss you-?”

They stare, processing. Then Luke starts to giggle. He breaks into a full laugh as Din’s face goes bright red.

“Did you just ask me if I was gay after I complained to you about my Daddy Issues?” Luke cackles

Din smooshes his hands over his face, “Ugh! I just didn’t want to assume, even though literally everything about you screams _gay_.What did _you_ ask me?”

Luke swipes a tear off his cheek, “I, the very _obvious_ gay, asked if I could kiss you.”

“Well, you can’t if you’re just going to tease me about it.” Din crossed his arms in false offense.

Luke holds up his hands for a truce, “I won’t tease!”

Din nods and begins to smile as he holds out his hand. Silently begging for it not to be sweating.   
Luke doesn’t seem to notice as he set his palm over Din’s and allows Din to pull him behind the maple tree.

He pulls the man he met less than two days ago close. He wraps an arm around Luke’s hip and cups his cheek with the other. Luke’s eyes flutter closed before their lips even touch.

First kisses are always a bit awkward, especially for Din. So he goes carefully, pressing his lips firmly against Luke’s, and trying to convey all his regret over having to leave so soon.

Luke smiles into him makes a small noise of what Din assumes is contentment.

After a few moments, Din pulls back slightly and quietly sets his forehead against Lukes. They breathe together before Luke speaks.

“so.. Thursday?”

“Thursday.”

***

“Are you sure about this?” Leia asks as she hands Luke his coat.

“I’m positive. Dad only seems to recognize business “professionals” as worthy of his time, so I’ll just have to do the work so he’ll hear me out.” Luke explains as he accepts his sister’s help with his suit coat.   
He slides into it and adjusts his favorite silver cufflinks.

“You’re perfectly worthy of his time, Luke. You just haven’t tried-“

“Tried talking to him? Arguing with him over dinner? Making mom get upset enough to lock us all out of the house?” Luke interrupts her, “He doesn’t _want_ to listen to me, and I’m tired of trying to bring him down to my level. So I’ll rise to his.”

Leia puts her hands on her hips and shakes her head in clear disapproval.

“You guys AREN’T on different levels. You’re both just too caught up in your _pride_. “ She says as Luke gathers his bag and his keys from the hook on the wall.

“Well try telling him that.” Luke replies simply.He grabs his shoes and shoves his feet into them, struggling a bit before he realizes that the water from the other day caused them to dry misshapen after he got home.

He returns past a still judgmental Leia to dig another pair out of his closet. The sun shines brightly through the large windows of their shared condo.

Luke passes his sister’s room just as a disheveled Han stumbles out.

  
“Oh g’morning, kid.” He greets through a yawn.

Luke doesn’t bother greeting him as Han clearly isn’t fully awake yet. He tries not to dwell on how often Han stays over. 

But a brief thought passes through his mind- that perhaps- he could get back at both Han and his sister, by bringing _someone_ of his own around.

He tries to toss the thought away before Leia can get a hold of it, but he forgets to suppress his smile as he finds his shoes and moves back out to the main room.

Leia greets Han by handing him a mug of coffee and sitting him down at the table.

Luke rushes to the door while she’s distracted but not quite fast enough. 

“By the way! Who gave you this stupid idea anyway?” She calls

Luke figures the quickest escape will come with the truth, “Din. Bye!” He calls as he shuts the door behind him.

“Who the hell is ‘Din’?”

“Fuck if I know…” Han replies.

***

Luke arrives a few minutes early to the office and takes the managers elevator directly up to the board offices. As the doors slide open, the first person he sees is his father, talking to some representatives.

Anakin spots Luke and takes note of his dark gray suit, and his -unfortunately brown- dress shoes.

He politely breaks away from his conversation and approaches Luke, but before Luke can get a word out, he is being shuffled away into an empty hall.   
  
“Luke? What are you doing here this early?” Anakin asks genuinely curious and somewhat concerned.

“I’m making good on my title. I want to learn.” Luke says confidently.

Anakin stares at him, bewildered. He glances over his shoulder then steps closer and puts his hands on Luke’s upper arms.

“Are you sure you’re ready? You’d tell me if there was something wrong, wouldn’t you?” Anakin asks quietly.

Luke huffs a bit, “Why do you assume that something would have to be wrong for me to want to work with you? Isn’t this what you’ve been training me for?”

Anakin steps back and scratches his head. “I suppose…”

He takes a couple seconds to think, all while eyeing his son, but then he smiles and ruffles Luke’s hair.

“Alright, if you feel you’re ready. I’ve got just the thing for you to try your hand at!”

CEO and heir stride through the corporate halls together. Staff, marketers, accountants, and investors part to let them pass.   
Luke allows himself a small swell of pride as he follows his father to an empty office next to his own.

While he’d never stepped inside, he knew the office existed for him. If the engraved name plate wasn’t already a dead giveaway, his father had often spoken about giving Luke his own office once he was ready.

Anakin unlocks the door and leads his son inside. The office is spacious with large floor to ceiling windows for the far wall. A few well-tended plants add green to the corners and shelves. There is a title plate on the desk with Luke’s name as well. His desk isn’t nearly as elaborate as the dark cherry wood in his father’s office, but it is still larger than Luke thought he would need. Company stationary and pens are set to one side.

“It’s all been waiting for you.” Anakin says with a smile as Luke pokes around the room.

Luke sets his bag on the large rotating office chair and goes to peer out the windows. He is on the wrong side of the building to be able to see the park. But he can look just far enough down the main road to see his favorite hamburger joint.

“You can do whatever you want for decor when you get settled. …Within the realms of professionalism of course.”

Luke chuckles a bit, “Of course. Thanks Dad. What project did you say you wanted me on?”

“Ah! Right, wait here for a minute.” Anakin says as he turns out of the office.

Luke listens for footsteps, but when he is satisfied no one will pop in, he tosses his bag onto the floor and throws himself in its’ place to spin round and round in the chair. He muffles his delight as he stands and regains his balance. He hops over to a filing cabinet as tall as he is and looks inside.   
Nothing of note.

He throws his arms out wide and steps in a large circle to gage the space of the room better and investigates the plants. They are all watered properly, most like by the housekeeping staff.

He stands with his back to the windows and looks about the room from that angle. He breathes deeply and tries to get a feel for the energy.

He closes his eyes. The room feels odd… almost forcible kept neutral.

Luke returns to the chair and scoots himself to the desk.

“Alright, if you need any other paperwork or documents just ask my assistant, he’ll be able to help you before I can.”

Luke snaps to attention as his father’s voice pops into the office. Anakin enters with a box of files with more tucked under his arm.   
He plops all of it down on the desk along with a paper calculator, a hard drive, and extra stationary and pens.

“This should do for now. I know you like to spread out a bit when you work.” Anakin says as he pulls a few specific files out.

Luke looks at it all, immediately overwhelmed, “And _what_ _exactly_ am I working on?”

Anakin pulls one more file and lays it out in front of Luke. It’s labeled, ‘yearly budget’.   
  
“I want you to create an initial layout for this years’ budget.”

Luke tries to disguise a cringe behind laugh, “ah. Math! We both know how _great_ I am at …math.”

Anakin chuckles and rolls his eyes, “Ha ha. My Gay Son ‘can’t do math’.Not if his second bachelors in business accounting has anything to say about that!”

  
His father ruffles his hair again, clearly pleased. Luke accepts that his hair will be effectively ruined, and he briefly is grateful he won’t be seeing Din today. Although, Din has already seen Luke flailing like a drowning womp-rat in a public fountain.

He brings himself back to the moment as his father mentions bringing him lunch later and leaves.

Luke takes a deep breath and casts himself back to college, and tries to remember what he was supposed to be learning instead of going out with his friends.

He opens the first folder and pulls over the hard drive.   
  
He plugs it into the dormant desk top, logs in, and gets to work.

***

Luke pulls away from the computer screen and takes a deep breath. As if something in his brain was starting to panic that he wasn’t breathing- or moving enough to still be alive.   
He tries to think back on the last time he hyper focused on something business related. It would have had to have been in college, for some test or project.   
  
He rubbed his eyes roughly and groaned. 

“Its like my brains gone on auto-pilot and crashed into mush…” he mutters to himself.

Luke looks up at the analog clock above the open door. About 1pm. The perfect time for lunch!

He picks up last-years’ budget file that he recently reconstructed, and gathered up his new files.   
His father was right about the way he worked. He had a dozen tabs open on the desk top computer, and multiple files open -both digital and physical scattered across his desk. He had multiple sheets of paper covered in notes, and spirals of number crunching. Not bad for a few hours work.

He knew he still had work to do, and the budget would no doubt be passed from committee to committee over the course of the next few weeks before getting approved by the board. But he had some ideas to push things along.   
  
Luke wanted to make a strong impression. He _wanted_ his father to take notice of him. Of how hard he COULD work. He _wanted_ to take Din’s advice, and do something to make his father proud, but also make his job a little easier.   
Maybe then…

Maybe then his father would understand. Luke wasn’t trying to be difficult. He just wanted to put his effort elsewhere. Follow his dreams.

“Ready for lunch, Luke?” Anakin said, startling Luke from his thoughts. “You’re looking a bit dazed. You alright? I know its a lot for your first real assignment.”

Luke jumps up, “No! It’s actually great I’ve got a couple ideas actually that I think will-“

“Ok! Ok! Slow down.” Anakin puts his hands up in a ‘calm down’ motion,“Let’s grab lunch and talk about it. Looks like you could use a break.”

Luke took note of the (wildly) different level of support he was suddenly receiving now that he was working _with_ his father.

_Din was right! This is going to work!_

Luke thinks to himself as he grabs his phone and follows Anakin out of the office.

***

Din managed to squeeze out of his cubicle half an hour early. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Luke had said about Grogu not ever really seeing the city.   
Rather unsurprisingly, Din’s ham-shaped manager let him go without any fuss or issue. Despite his general misanthropy, Din was starting to like the guy.

Din turned right after leaving the office instead of heading to the school.He wandered down a couple blocks, following a general direction from his phone until he ended up in front of a old looking diner. He went in and came out ten minutes later with white paper sack that was already starting to get a bit greasy from its’ contents.

From there he went to Curoscant Elementary and Kindergarten. He signed Grogu out a few minutes early and waited in the hall by the doors. Ms. Omera walks Grogu out only for him to spot his father and dash towards him.   
Din swings Grogu up into his arms and kisses his forehead, before thanking Ms. Omera and leaving.   
  
“Grogu.” Din starts as they walk down the sidewalk. Grogu pulls his hand quickly away from his father’s bag and looks up. “I DID get us something, but lets wait until we can sit, ok?”

Grogu nods. Then he looks around them at surroundings that look nothing like their normal route to the train station. He tugs on Din’s jacket and points behind them with a curious expression.   
  
“I know buddy, don’t worry. How would you like to go to a park here in the city for a little bit?”

Grogu squeals in delight and grabs his father’s hand to pull him forward.

“Alright! We’re going!” Din laughs and guides his son to the cross walk.

In a few minutes they are looking at massive blooms of azaleas and wandering towards the sound of water. Din takes them to a wooden bench by the playscape near the fountain. The same one he pulled Luke out onto when they first met.

Grogu climbs up on the bench and bounced excitedly as Din unwraps a slowly cooling hamburger for him.

They eat in silence for a moment before Grogu taps his father’s arm. He points to the burger and flexes his fingers as his sign for “something more.”

“What wrong? You don’t like it?” Din asks

Grogu shakes his head and then tilts it side to side. Like he can’t decide.

“Is it bland?”

Grogu nods.

Din feels a pinch of vindication over Luke’s proclamation over the “Best burgers in town”.

“Yeah, we’re used to more flavors huh?” Din chuckles and hands Grogu some of the salt packets from the bag.   
  
They eat in silence, watching the fountains go off at random times. Din takes a steeling breath before he speaks again.

“My friend, Luke, introduced me to these. He said they’re his favorite.”

Grogu made a face that Din could only really define as ‘Judgmental’. 

“I think you’d like Luke, buddy. He’s very nice.” Din said without looking at his son, he could feel him whip his head around to stare at his father. Suspicion rolling off him in waves.

“I think he’s pretty nice.. and just pretty.” Din said softly.

Grogu tapped Din’s arm and pointed at his backpack on the bench next to him.

“Yeah, like Ms. Omera is pretty and nice too. But Luke is a bit more…. special.” Din trails off.

Grogu seems to consider this information for a while. He finishes his flavorless burger and licks his fingers clean. He stares ahead for a moment longer as Din watches him.

“Daddy?” Grogu murmurs.

Din hums in response, bracing himself. Grogu almost NEVER spoke verbally. And Din knew he was very serious when he did.

“Is Luke important?”

Din tilts his head side to side, “Well… everybody is important.”

“…to us.” Grogu says, clarifying as he turns fully towards Din. He crosses his short legs and stares into Din.

“I think he _could_ be very important to us. I’d like him to meet you. If that’s alright with you.”

Grogu nods immediately and smiles. He then tugs a small silver pendant on a chain from under his cloths and shows it to Din.

“What-? Our clan… what about it?” Din asks, unsure.

Grogu pushes the pendant into Din’s chest the proceeds to hit him with it.

“What about our clan, Grogu? And there’s no need for that, I’m here, I’m listening.” Din says calmly as he catches Grogu’s little hands and pulls him into a hug.

Grogu settles after a moment and mumbles into Din’s shirt.

Din doesn’t catch it but proceeds to rock his son a little as he looks up into the sky. They had better get to the train soon.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gods, sorry, school and life are kicking my whole ass. Still need a proofreader. 
> 
> Lies by omission are still considered lies, right? Title for the pun only. 
> 
> ANyway, Happy Valentine's you crazy kids! Enjoy yourselves.

**Author's Note:**

> oh gods i need a proof reader... i only have time to write at 1am.
> 
> Sorry about the typos and plot holes. I'm doing my best, but I live in America...


End file.
